Introducing: Cyril Crepin

Portraits Convey Dignity of Facial Reconstruction Patients

“They want to be recognised as human beings. Contrary to what people might say about this series, it’s not meant to be obscene or voyeuristic. Obscenity is to ignore their humanity and their extraordinary courage.” Photographer Cyril Crepin is determined to get people to venture beyond the taboo of examining and talking about facial disfigurements, and his new series In vU is his compelling attempt at doing so. Collaborating with Professor Bernard Devauchelle, who is a leading surgeon, Crepin accentuates the quiet dignity of his models through his dramatic photographs.

Crepin’s work is certainly emotionally intense: all the photographs were taken within the confines of the hospital in which Devauchelle worked, and many of his subjects were well aware of the risks they were exposing themselves to through surgery. The rawness of his subjects’ gaze transcends the harsh lights of the hospital, appearing as a visual protest against normative ideas about beauty.